Christmas On The Mission :)

Monday, December 28, 2015

Hey, all! Christmas was so great! Here is my message to President Ware today.

Christmas as a missionary is so wonderful. We were a bit confused on how to do it, but we were grateful for the service we got to render to our investigators and members, as well as those thoughtful souls who gave us such wonderful things. It was such a blessing to see you at interviews. Your kind and uplifting thoughts for us really gave me such confidence in myself and my work. Thank you for those.

Haleigh got baptized! Neither of us really know how to put on a baptism, but it seemed to go off "without a hitch." :) It was fun to watch as we prayed for that specifically, watch as our own plans for the program didn't quite go through, but then have our district leader compliment us on the baptism with those exact words. When you don't feel like something went very well, just for someone to answer your prayer like that is pretty cool. Haleigh is so happy. She told us later that night that she felt awesome; like a new woman. Sister Evans wrote up a little note for her encouraging her to always remember the way she felt that day. I hope she does! You can tell just by looking at her that she's different, and it's really cool to experience that.

We're also still teaching Thomas, and he wants to keep preparing to be baptized on the 9th of January. He is so awesome to teach. He is usually pretty eloquent with explaining the things we've taught him, and always manages to take his own symbolic twist on the subject. When we had our last lesson with him, Sister Eden, our member, turned to us after a comment he'd made about what we taught him and said, "Are you sure he's not already baptized?" :) Thomas keeps telling us that what we teach him about makes so much more sense than what he's heard before and when he prays, he tends to thank Heavenly Father for us helping him find his faith. What a blessing to stumble upon someone who's been so prepared! I am just hoping and hoping that the Lord will grant us the privilege of helping him be baptized this transfer. That would be such a miracle and a tender mercy. He came to church with Brian M. as well! We haven't had the chance to follow up with him about church, but we'll have to do that today. Hoping to meet with him tomorrow as well.

Art was at church yesterday as well! We taught him the 15-Step Program this week, the best that we could. I only ever almost taught that lesson with Earnado in my first area, but he skipped town before we could ever get in with him to teach it. I remember there being a teacher copy of the lesson as well as a copy for our investigator, and we only had a student copy for Art, and we did our best to teach those steps to him. He said he's working on the 15 steps when we asked him yesterday, and he said it's going okay... not really sure what that means. We're meeting with him tonight, so we'll have to encourage him on that when we meet.

We feel like Art is progressing, but it's kind of slow. We keep trying to move forward with the lessons with him to help him progress, but the stupor of thought about that during daily planning is real. We keep wanting to invite him to a specific date for baptism, but we keep feeling like the more we keep pushing his date back, the less he'll take it seriously. He seems to be willing to prepare for baptism, so what we're thinking is we'll ask him about it. Like, "What do you think of actually, for reals, about getting baptized on the 16th? No jokes." He likes to come to church, and is pretty good about reading in the Book of Mormon, so I think we should just do it. See where it goes.

Thanks for letting me talk about that. That answered a lot of questions. :) Another really great thing that happened this week happened while we were tracting! (Gotta love it!) I also think it came from sticking to our plans, so I'm grateful to my companion for that. We were torn between driving out to Mesa before our dinner appointment over there, and staying in the apartment complexes we'd tracted a lot. I was having so many doubts about it. "Maybe we ought to go to Mesa," as we're walking up the stairs to knock on someone's door. Then we knock, and this guy answers and— after asking his mom about it— tells us that they're not interested in talking. But as he's saying this, his mom whips around the corner and changes her mind. She came out to talk to us outside for a minute, then invited us into her house to talk to her in her room. She kept saying how crazy it was that we were there because she had just been talking to her son the other day about what she believed and how she wanted to find out. We answered her questions about our beliefs with the Restoration pamphlet, and encouraged her to pray and read the Book of Mormon. Before we even finished doing that, she looked at my Book of Mormon and said, "Can I have that?" :)

We had an appointment scheduled with her yesterday evening, but she seems to be a little bit back and forth with us. One minute she'd cancel and tell us that she didn't agree with our beliefs or cancel to reschedule, and the next she's okay again with letting us come over or asking us if we can help her with food. So we're not really sure about her, but it was definitely cool to find her at the right time! The Lord just knows! We hope she'll stay on the letting-us-come-over side of things so that we can help her feel the Spirit testify this is true.

~Sister Nielsen

Pictures:


Christmas with the family we live with! Love the Quintons!


Haleigh got baptized!! How great is that?!


Christmas hats from Sister Evans' mom = Christmas win


Oh, by the way, this is our car. Brand new 2016 Toyota Corolla. What.


Trip to the dentist today. Word.

Welcome to Connell! (Beginning Transfer 7)

Monday, December 7, 2015

Things in Connell are going really well already! The sisters have done a great job in this area, and the members are already so involved! It's been so cool to see how many of them have come up to us to give us an update on people they have been working with. We've only had two dinners with members so far, and already have three referrals! We have some big shoes to fill.

A lot of our week since Wednesday was spent in the area book and sorting through our directories and the great notes the sisters left behind for us. We spent a lot of weekly planning going through the big pile of former investigators to see which of them stood out to go by and visit. We pulled out a lady named Christina, who apparently has been meeting with missionaries from Basin City and Connell for 8 or 9 years. She already is doing Family Home Evening, and her two youngest kids have already prayed about the Book of Mormon and know it's true. When we went by to visit, we read a little from the Book of Mormon again and invited them to prepare for baptism again on the 26th of this month. We'll have to figure out a ride situation for them, it sounds like, because after she insisted they'd be there on Sunday, they didn't make it to church. Elder Harward, our district leader in Walla Walla, used to always tell us, "Church attendance directly correlates with member involvement." We'll have to ask her about it at her appointment tomorrow.

When we got to the area, we discovered the sisters had already been preparing two, almost three, people for baptism: Art, Haleigh, and Jackie. Haleigh lives with the members we live with, the Quintons. (Yeah. We live down the hall from one of our on-dates. Haha! :)) She is on fire, ready to be baptized on the 27th! We met with her Friday night and went over the interview questions with her. She passed with flying colors, but it definitely won't hurt to go over a few of the commandments. She had a hard time remembering all the details about tithes and offerings, and we're thinking it'd be very beneficial to go over Sabbath Day observance with her, since we came home from church and found her streaming the football game to her husband via FaceTime. Haha! (Can't get away with much when you live with the missionaries. ;)) (I'm sure she had a good reason. She just seems like she is so ready and converted.)

Art is another the sisters have been preparing. Apparently they haven't been teaching him for a long time, but it sounds like he is slowly starting to see the correlation between the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and the teaching record said something about how he was having a hard time finding answers. He's doing pretty well as far as quitting smoking, but still could use more of the foundational things. He's been to church twice and is on date for the 19th, so we're hopeful the fast we had yesterday will help him start to receive those answers and continue to act in faith by preparing for the 19th.

Right now our plan of action is to go through and try to visit all the former investigators that were in the area book (there were so many) and then try to work the area based on whether or not they're home or interested. I was really overwhelmed by it all when I first got here, but I think we're slowly starting to get the hang of it. I already really love my companion, Sister Evans. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she really is a great missionary. Her testimony is so genuine. We're already accomplishing a lot and it's only been a few days.

Another cool thing that happened this week was when we were contacting former investigators. We just happened to be standing there by our car trying to figure out where to go when Cynthia pulled up. We struck up a conversation and found out that she is searching for answers and seemed very open. We have an appointment with her tonight at 6:00!

So far the transfer has been quite good! I'm hopeful of the progress I've seen, and I've been trying to remember what my mission president told us at the transfer meeting about opposition and where feelings of doubt and fear come from. I already love it a lot here in Connell. I can't imagine how much it will grow as I get to know more people.

~Sister Nielsen


Our own little personal Christmas parade brought to you by Connell major providers ;)






Our ward mission leader's family in Walla Walla! (She got Sister McOmber and me that cute scarf for early Christmas!)


The Piekos family in their true character


(In Connell) It didn't take Sister Evans and me very long to find the Taco Truck. LOL. :)


The view from our front porch (the members' house where we're staying)


Our neighbors. ;)


Sister Evans and me!


We're getting along really well with the people in the community. Just looking for service opportunities.



And some leftovers from Walla Walla...


Me and Brother Ed Bush! Love that guy!


A few from our zone at the Humane Society on Tuesday


We nicknamed her Molly. I fell in love instantly.


Molly!

Upward, Forward, and NORTHward

Monday, November 30, 2015

Transfer calls! Sister Nielsen is going to Connell, Washington, this week! It's, like, the most northern part of our mission. I'll send the map so you can see where it is. [Note from Lisa: The attachment wouldn't open, so I found another map.] Apparently it is so little. Haha! But the ward is huge. We'll be doing so much driving. Oh, and we're getting doubled in and starting the English work. I guess the missionaries there have always also been in the Spanish branch, so the ward is excited to get its own missionaries. I can't wait to tell ya what it's like.


Mission boundaries. Connell is at the top of the northeast quadrant.

This week has had so many things happen! There is an investigator, Vickey, who has been meeting with the sisters for so long, and has been dropped and picked up at least twice since I've been here in July. Her son Lee is in and out of jail a lot, and he had said that he wanted to get baptized with his mom, so they've pushed/postponed the date a few times. We met this week and she told us that Lee was in jail again. We were so nervous she would want to push her date back again because she has so been wanting to get baptized with Lee. But not long after she told us Lee was in jail, she said, "But I'm going to push forward with the baptism anyway. I'm tired of waiting for Lee." Kind of a bittersweet thing, but she feels really strongly about it. She just wants Lee to learn from the mistakes he's making, and she feels it will help him more if she moves forward with her life. She is so excited. We've got meetings scheduled with her until the 12th of December. She was at church yesterday, and loved it!

I spent a lot of time on LDS.org today, trying to do as much research as I could about Connell. Where did the time go? Excited for this new area and new transfer. Sad to leave Walla Walla. So many good things have been happening! My companion, Sister McOmber, is receiving a new missionary, and I know she is going to love the area and the people so much.

Signing out from Walla Walla, Washington,
Sister Nielsen


With Ed Bush after Thanksgiving dinner with the Alter family. I think he had so much fun! We love Brother Bush


By the Walla Walla City Library. Man, this place is quirky!


Our cute little Christmas tree!


Oh, just another Walla Walla tree with a face. #wallaquirks

Just some pics this week

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

She just sent some pictures this week! It's all good.


We found this in our potential investigator's yard. IT LIVES!


Snowy day at the temple today! :)


Us with the 1st Ward sisters at zone conference


(This is actually from last week.) Strike a pose in Prescott, Washington. Population: 50 feet that way.

This Lovely Week in November

Monday, November 16, 2015

Email to the family

Hello, family!

I didn't really feel like making a mass email this week, but if anyone wants to know how I'm doing, let them know about all that's been said in my attachment. I wanted to include what I wrote to President Ware. I thought it'd be a pretty good summary. I love you all so, so much, and I'm glad to hear that the funeral went so well. I'm so grateful for the knowledge we have of the Gospel and for what a blessing it's truly been for me— and for you all, I'm sure. Thank you for your great examples and for your love and support.

President Ware!

We are so grateful for this week. We've been really trying to help Samantha and Linda progress towards baptism this week. We had a lesson with Linda, and we almost lost her! We went to her house for our lesson with her on Friday and she started with, "I don't think this is for me, you guys." NO! So we asked some inspired questions with the help of our member, and we found out that she wasn't understanding the Book of Mormon and feeling a bit overwhelmed. We explained that she doesn't need to understand it all at once, and we're thinking about sharing scriptures from the Book of Mormon that are going to help her with whatever she's going through, instead of asking her to read and comprehend the whole Book of Mormon. We're thinking it will be a good start to get her warmed up to the language of the Book of Mormon and the way that it will make her feel.

Samantha's doing really well and is excited for baptism, which we are so grateful for. She recently got a job and they asked her to work on Sunday, so she wasn't able to come [to church]. We're pushing her baptismal date back again, to the 5th of December. We had been having a really hard time getting ahold of her until we thought to call her during weekly planning, and I was amazed that she not only answered but we were able to counsel with her about the expectations we have for her baptismal preparation, and she's agreed to let us come and teach her three times a week. Yay!

We've also been teaching someone named Himan. Sister Hamblin and I met him and his friend by the convenience store by our house. It was pretty funny because his friend was really drunk and was rapping and going on about Jesus and his conversion story while Himan apparently had this epiphany that we were exactly what he needed. As his friend was going on, Himan turns to Sister Hamblin and says, "Whoa. It's so crazy that you're here, right now." And she got his contact information and gave him a Restoration pamphlet. We've been teaching him on and off ever since. He tells us he loves what we teach him and he really loves how it makes him feel, but Sister McOmber and I have been struggling to teach him. It seems like he learns a little slower, but like I said, he loves it. He came to church yesterday, and really wants to come back next week. We invited him to be baptized this week, and he said he's going to pray about it. We're aiming to follow up with him again this week. What should we do if we think he might have a learning or other disability? Sister McOmber suggested having him meet our bishop to discern his needs. It's just finding a good time where both Bishop and Himan are available.

ALSO! You probably have heard from previous missionaries in this area about Vicky Trout and Lee Crosby. Sister McOmber was looking in the area book and came across their teaching record (probably because it's a really long one... :)) and we had the idea to call them to see how they were. They were both reeeally close to being baptized before I got to the area. Apparently they had been interviewed and everything, but when her mom died, progression just sort of stopped, and between funeral arrangements and her health, they sort of fell off the map. So when we called, she updated us on everything that had been going on and expressed her and Lee's desire to be baptized, but she expressed that health issues kept interfering. We explained that opposition would continue to arise because of the importance of what she was wanting to do, and encouraged her to push through it and commit to a date. They want to be baptized as soon as possible— the 21st, if they can. We counselled with Elder Harward and he encouraged us to review the lessons with them, since it's been so long. I'm thinking that's probably a really good idea. It'll just be a matter of how fast we can do it. We're both really excited, though.

We're so grateful that the Lord is pouring down these miracles as we're gradually talking to more and more people every day. The promise you made us is so true. We're still improving about talking to everyone, but even the quarter inch that we've seen has made a big difference in the work.

As far as my family, I didn't hear much from them. My mom sent me a little something in response to what I sent her for the funeral, and my sister sent pictures from the funeral and a little bit about how everything went. This is what I sent to her:

"It makes me sad that I couldn't be there, but I know Dad would want me here. The real Dad isn't in that coffin, and that brings me a lot more comfort. The real Dad is around me and right by my side when I need him. The real Dad is sharing the gospel on the other side with those who need it. I just pray this will be an experience that strengthens the whole family. I love the pictures of Maren [my niece] and I LOVE that Bradley [my brother-in-law] is wearing Dad's tie. It made me so happy to hear that Kevin and Shawn [my brothers] did such a great job with those prayers. There's a part in our handbook about the priesthood, and as it was talking about funerals, I thought about Kevin and Shawn and how they really are living worthily of the priesthood they hold. I am so grateful that we are living what Mom & Dad taught us. Doesn't it just make everything make sense? Doesn't it bring such peace? It makes me sad to see all this stuff that he loved so much left behind, and it makes me sad that I can't be there with Mom to help and comfort her, but I know that this scripture is true:

"'Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live. Behold, verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little time, and declare my word, and I will prepare a place for them.' (D&C 31:5,6)

"I am so glad that Dad is in a place where he is resting. I'm grateful for the promise of the scriptures because I worry about you guys a lot. I know that you will be okay, that we will be okay. I know the Lord will protect, lift, and comfort us with Dad's passing. I know that there is so much more to mortality than mortality. I know it because I feel it, and I can feel Dad. It's got to be true. There truly is no way it isn't."

There's been a lot of weight lifted about this. The Lord truly is healing my heart as I've been trying to forget about my problems and go to work. I miss Dad every day, but I can imagine it will be that way for the rest of my life— for as long as Dad just isn't with us anymore. But he is. And every day might be hard. But life needs to go on. It has to. That's what he would want. I can imagine some days are going to be really hard, but that doesn't mean it won't be okay.



There have been quite a few days where all I want to do is go home and be with my family, but I'd much rather be here. I have my whole life— and beyond— to be with my family, but I only have 9+ months left to serve the Lord like this. I just want to do all that I can while I'm here. I've been trying to let Sister McOmber help me with whatever I need as far as mourning or whatever, but I have an easier time just forgetting myself than talking about my problems. I figure it will resolve itself eventually.

Anyway. I'm rambling. I feel like things are going really well in spite of whatever is happening with my family. I'm grateful for the work of a missionary. It has been so amazing to be a missionary as my dad has passed. I told my sister the other day that I felt like I was cheating because I was out here with all this extra help as a missionary while they were at home dealing with it all. I worry about them, but at the same time I don't. Being a missionary truly is a blessing that I am beyond grateful for right now. I appreciate your support as well, President Ware. Thank you for all you've been doing for me and my family. Thank you for your prayers.

The work is rolling forward. The Lord truly blesses us in our afflictions.

~Sister Nielsen

Here are some fun pictures from the week.


That one time one of our members has a tree house


From a few weeks ago. The leaves here are so pretty!!

Truly the Gospel Blesses Families

Monday, November 9, 2015

I am so grateful for the love and support I have felt from so many of you as the news of my dad's passing has spread.

For those who don't already know, my dad passed away last Thursday. His kidneys had been failing. Diabetes is a beast for the intestines. Eventually they got him on some medication that finally helped him to rest and relax. My mom helped talk him into the idea of it being OK for him to go, and he passed away peacefully. They let me know that night, and I didn't get to sleep right away. Thank goodness for the impression I had to take Benedryl; knocked me out, eventually. :) I was so worried about my mom. I couldn't imagine having to do that for the person you love the very, very most.

President Ware has been very, very supportive about it. He let me call my mom and talk to her after he had let her know that the protocol is to keep missionaries in the field instead of letting them go home for funerals. (Apparently when people go home, they try to not come back. #SatanIsReal)

My dad isn't suffering anymore from this disease that tormented his body for 21 years. He is free. He has free range to learn the gospel, to share the gospel, and be by my side helping me testify 24/7. His presence is real. It's so crazy. I feel him here with me, even now. I have never felt this close to him. They're having the funeral this Saturday, but I'll be here in Washington, sharing the glorious truth of forever families, with my dad right by my side. (It makes me sound like a crazy person, but I wouldn't say it if it weren't real.)

I don't want any of you to worry. We are all fine. I am fine. I'm going to be just fine. My family will be fine. My mom is clinging to the peace she has felt in the temple. Nothing is impossible. The Lord has made it right through the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why I'm doing what I'm doing! So that others can have this peace, too. :) It's been surreal to feel my dad helping me, and I know that he truly lives on. He is my best friend, my "day-time friend," and we continue to have adventures together.





The work is progressing. Please keep Samantha D. and Linda A. in your prayers. They are on date for baptism, and are slowly progressing. I think we'll have to push their baptism dates back.

The gospel of Jesus Christ has never been more real to me. I know it's real. My dad has been here with me, and he knows it's true as well. The restored gospel will truly, truly bless my family and yours. If you are reading this and haven't already gained a testimony of this truth, I want to invite you to please, please do so. If you ask God, with a sincere heart, he will let you know that this is true. Please. It will truly change your life, and it has been a rock and a sure strength and foundation in mine.

-Sister Melanie Nielsen
daughter of Russell Kevin Nielsen (Sept. 13, 1960 - Nov. 5, 2015)

Rain, Halloween, & Taming the Beast

Monday, November 2, 2015

Busy day! Short email. Sorry! Here's what I sent to President Ware today.

I feel like Heavenly Father really has seen the desire I have to improve. The Lord has blessed us with opportunities to invite people to baptism! Samantha D. really wants to learn what God wants her to do and is so excited for November 21. She loves the way she feels when we teach her. She says the things we teach her give her "good goosebumps." :) We were so excited to teach her about the Holy Ghost when she said that! We invited her to church, but she said she got way sick the night before and couldn't make it. We're trying to get her stepmom's home teachers over to give her a blessing. We're not sure if that actually happened yet.

We hope we can keep consistently meeting with her. It seems like that would be the only thing keeping her from reaching her date. I think if we pray about a good fellowshipper for her, we'll have an easier time and keep her safe and progressing. We're meeting with her again on Wednesday, but wanted to stop by tonight to see if she's doing all right.

The other person we had the blessing of teaching this week was Linda A.! We met her at Subway the night Sister McOmber got here, and she kept talking about how she was ready to get clean and get baptized. We scheduled a return appointment for this last Saturday. We watched the Restoration video with her, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend, Luis, who was glued to the movie the whole time! She told us it was a really relaxing video and Luis said he really enjoyed it! She had questions about why there were so many Bibles, and she was quite frustrated about it, but it was so amazing to see how teaching her about the Apostasy really helped her understand how the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ really answers those questions.

She wants to work towards November 27 to be baptized. We wanted it to be sooner, but she has a hectic work schedule and apparently she relapsed on cigarettes. Many mighty prayers her direction. I think she's definitely ready to follow the Savior, but I still think she might have a lot of questions about things. Which things, I'm not sure yet, but I'm grateful for the way that planning and the Spirit help us.

It's hard to believe all of this only happened in a week. It's been a jam-packed week of miracles.

So pray for Samantha, Linda, Ed B., and Tanya G. At least for this week. Samantha and Linda are on date for baptism. Ed is struggling to come to church, and we're not going to meet with him until he shows a little more interest (and he's so, so close, too! He just needs to get his rear in gear!). And Tanya is a referral we got this week, and she has been prepared. We just need to get with her. ​And you know, we need to get people to church. Church attendance is so important, and it's a delicate balance of helping people get there and getting them fellowshippers who will help them get there as well. I wish missionary work were less of a learning process sometimes, but thus is life. We're doing our best. :)

Also, I cut my hair today. There was a whole animal hiding in there. Imagine that.

- Sister Nielsen

P.S. We got stuck in the rain with a broken umbrella. Who says it doesn't rain in this part of Washington?




Halloween!






He will do great things. ;)


Our pretty church in Walla Walla!


THIS COIN IS AS OLD AS THE SAVIOR! What?!


Look at how funny our bishop's family is. Oh my word.

Week One, Transfer 6: Subway Sandwiches & Speeding

Monday, October 26, 2015

I'm admittedly having a really hard time today. I'm not really sure, but I guess I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I don't remember if I told you last week, but my companion got transferred to a different area. It sounds like President Ware thinks I have a lot more growing to do. So. Trying not to be discouraged about that.

Yesterday was such an awesome day, though. I really needed it. The sabbath truly was a delight and a relief. Where do I even start? I'm going to jot down some of my favorites from my notes:

• Turn to the Lord; trust in Him, and let Him be your guide.
• A desire to believe is where you start! It can be that simple.
• Skepticism is easy; faith is a worthwhile effort that reaps great results.
• Center your lives on the Savior & simplify your life with the things that matter most.
• How we can establish a good foundation on Jesus Christ? Center your life on him. The world is spinning out of control, and even our lives can feel that way. If we center ourselves on him, we find protection.
• Forgiveness. Forgive others. Take time to evaluate anything you haven't moved on from. Give that to the Savior and simplify your life.
• Forgive yourself. The Savior is ready and willing to take your mistakes from you. Apply the Atonement and move on. Let it go. Simplify your life by giving it to him.
• Self-Control. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.
• Align yourself to the will of the Lord.
• The Lord will humble us so that our hearts can be broken. When our hearts break, there is room for the Lord to fill it with a better way.
• To him, our direction is more important than our speed.
• Simply repent and get on the path. The Lord is there to help us.

Our bishop invited us to ward council, which has been a goal (of mine, at least) for quite a while. We've been to a few ward councils since I've been here, but it was cool that Bishop wanted us to be there. What was even better is that we talked about the people the ward is focusing on, and I'm not sure if we've done that since I've been here! We'll be trying to help the ward with those people as well, thank goodness. Hoping it will open up some teaching opportunities. Then what was even better, we met with Bishop and our ward mission leader to get the ball rolling on a few things that haven't been happening. We counselled together and made some great plans about how we can be more effective in working together as members and missionaries. The Lord is truly preparing people for us through the efforts of our members.

My new companion's name is Sister McOmber. She's from Queen Creek, AZ. She is a great missionary, and it's been so awesome to work with her so far. Our first night together, we had dinner scheduled with a less-active family, but when we showed up to dinner with them, they cancelled and gave us some money to go get ourselves dinner. We chose Subway (one reason probably being that we get a missionary discount there, which is nice!). This lady named Linda was making our sandwiches. She noticed our name tags, rang up our discount (bless her), and proceeded to check us out. To our surprise, suddenly she asked us to pray for her daughter, who was going through some health issues. After we prayed with her (with no one else in the store, thank goodness), we asked about her daughter and started asking questions to open up a gospel discussion. She told us about how much she'd done to turn her life around and how much Jesus Christ has been helping her. "I run on faith," she told us. :) We had a great conversation with her, and left her with a pass-along card.

The next day, we were in the same area. Because our mortal bodies are subject to mortal things, we gave in to the great need we had to... relieve ourselves... and stopped by Subway to ask if we could use their restroom, not thinking Linda would be there again. But she was! So while I was... um, busy... my companion started to get to know Linda a little more, and by the time I came out, we were easily led to a conversation that helped us understand her desire to continue to move forward with her progression and be baptized. We were so excited that she said that! Haha. We asked her if we could come over to her house and help her achieve that goal, and we found out she lived in our area! How great is that? The soonest she could meet is on Halloween, so we've made plans to meet with her a little more often, or at least go get a Subway sandwich or something. :) We're very excited for this opportunity the Lord has given us and are praying to be able to accomplish his will for her.
I only have time for that miracle this week, but the Lord has been pouring them down. My companion has such great desire and is so genuine. She really is being a great example to me.

I love you with all my heart. Keep yourselves centered on the Lord, and all will be well.

-Sister Nielsen

Wherefore, your family shall live

Email to the family

Monday, October 19, 2015
Sorry to hear that Dad is having more troubles. All I can think to say is that the Doctrine and Covenants promises that my missionary service will really bless our family. "Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live." (D&C 31:5)

All we can do is trust that the Lord will bless our family, and move forward with faith.

They're transferring my companion to Kennewick this week. I'm not really sure why, but it sounds like that's happening to a lot of the new missionaries that came in last transfer. They don't quite know what to do with 29 missionaries! There are quite a few companionships that are only six weeks in and are getting doubled into an area. Only six weeks in with no trainer? Training each other? It's crazy.

My companion is going to be with a sister who just finished training. I guess the Lord trusts Sister Hamblin a lot (and her new trainer). That girl came pre-trained anyway. I can only hope that it's not because I did something wrong. I feel like there are things I could have done better, but ultimately I feel like I tried my best with what I had. I am trying to learn to trust the Lord more and rely on him rather than my own strengths. Maybe and hopefully that will prepare me for when the Lord calls me to train again.

I'll be getting a sister who was also training one of the 29 new missionaries that came in last transfer. So we both sent our missionaries somewhere else. I'm not sure why it's happening, but I trust it's happening for a reason. Being a trainer is such a beautiful and awesome experience, so I guess the Lord is preparing me to be even better at it for next time.

I'll send you what I sent President Ware because I ran out of time for sake of writing him about so much today.

It's been roller-coaster week! (I feel like I probably say that every week! Haha.) We had an investigator we met last week that we decided to drop by and visit. When we taught her, everything we taught about was something she agreed with, and she was really excited to pray about the Book of Mormon and find out if she had been baptized by proper authority. Apparently she didn't necessarily appreciate that we surprised her, though. She got quite a bit upset, with some choice words about us trying to shove these things down her throat and told us to never come back. So that was quite depressing. Especially after telling our district council about her and feeling their support to go and reach out to her.

I think one miraculous thing that's happened this week was actually things that happened the past couple of days. We've been striving to include the members more, and I think the best way to describe doing that is that we schedule a couple of hours or so to be in a certain part of our area— not only to find, street contact, and tract, but to look through our directory and feel by the Spirit which member we should visit. It's not something we make time for every day, but we've been able to do it every other day or so, and we found a way to reach out by offering service to a few of the members we've met.

We stopped by a fellowshipper for one of our investigators who's not really progressing, and we were able to sit down, briefly get to know the family, and share a scripture about people's hearts being prepared for the word and ask them questions about it. It sparked a great conversation that really brought the Spirit into the home. We kept it as brief as the conversation allowed, and said a prayer with them. It was hard to leave the house after that because they were talking about people they've been trying to work with after we asked if they could think of anyone we could try by that night. The father talked about his wayward daughter in the 1st Ward, and the adult son recommended a family that lived in our area and invited him to get ahold of us when we knew their address (otherwise, we'd have a really hard time finding it).

I just think the biggest thing that this plan has helped us with is just acting in a way where we've realized that we can't do this work without the members. Another thing that I think has really helped us is keeping daily contact with our ward mission leader. He's really gotten more and more excited about getting the ward involved since we had that meeting in Milton-Freewater. The most miraculous part was just seeing a member we don't talk to much (other than at church) call us and refer his neighbor. His neighbor is someone we had talked to before and he had asked our member about us, and Brother Petersen called us right away. We made it a priority to contact this referral the next day (with no notable success) and left a note on Brother Petersen's door so we could follow up with him. Brother Petersen called, we told him what happened, and then Brother Petersen started telling us about another friend he was trying to have over. He also mentioned his plans to invite them to meet with the missionaries, and the Spirit helped us compliment him and his dedication to serving the Lord.

I'm grateful for the change of mindset the Lord, through many means, has helped me to have about members. We've got to love them into this work. There's no way we can do it without them. I really am starting to see the Lord bless us with the attention we're trying to pay to the members. We sat down with one of our most progressing investigators (actually, probably our actual most progressing investigator... :/ ), Ed B., and asked him what he expected of us as missionaries. Apparently this was the best question we could have asked because he opened up about him being on the fence about whether or not this was the path the Lord wanted him to take. We encouraged him to come to church so that he would be able to feel the Spirit testify to this being the path for him. He agreed that it would help, and expressed that he wanted to come on a church tour to get a feel for it before he came. We thought this conversation was a miracle because we have been trying and trying to figure out what his holdup was and why he wasn't coming to church. But it became pretty evident when we just paid attention to the Spirit. We were trying to get a member to that lesson as well, which didn't work out, but I feel like we were able to talk to him more freely when we were able to sit with him, one on one (or, one on two, if you will) to figure out why he wasn't progressing.

So we tried to set up a church tour the next few days and didn't have any luck getting a member to come. When it kept falling through, he promised that he would be at church, but... no go. Maybe he's not ready? Maybe we need to have another "DTR" (define the relationship)? :) He's really good to read the Book of Mormon every time, so it's clear that he's willing to learn, but he won't come to church. He says he got turned off from churches when his last pastor was always asking for money in his sermons. I think he thinks that's what's going to happen at our church. I feel like we've explained that, but maybe the church tour is just what needs to happen. I think that would really help him; it's just a matter of getting a member there. We can't do a church tour without a member. Plus we'd need another woman with us!

So we're praying, and trying to listen to what the Spirit is telling us. And we're trying to find, find, find, because you've got to find if you want to teach, right?

I love you all a lot. :) Give Daddy my love.

~Sister Nielsen

Why for did you cut me down?

Monday, October 12, 2015


Another successful day of tracting

Hey, all! It's a short one this week. But I wanted to share what I wrote to my mission president, and then I wanted to share a link to a Mormon Message. It definitely applies and helped me a ton today! :)

I would say this week has been pretty good, with all things considered. In trying to keep an eternal perspective, I'd say I'm grateful for this week. Sometimes you have those weeks where everything falls through, almost everyone drops you, and you're inclined to ask God why he let that happen, but it lead to something greater!

My friend shared this story with me, and I thought it really applied to my week.

"Our mission president was teaching his son how to mow their lawn and it was taking his son a really long time to get the job done. Little by little he got better, and it got to the point where he now can mow the lawn one-handed, at like 20 miles an hour! Haha! He told us that when he was frustrated with his son initially, he had the thought come to his mind which said, 'Rich,' [he calls himself this when he is talking to himself, apparently] 'you are not just mowing a lawn, you are mowing a boy.'"

I get impatient with myself a lot! I just wanna be a perfect missionary already. I just wanna have all the answers to people's questions, but that's not how it works at all! It's about mowing a missionary, huh? :) So we're starting from square one this week and really, really focusing on the members. Thank goodness, we didn't lose our whole teaching pool, but we did lose a few potentials (and it felt like a lot! haha). But now we're really working with our ward mission leader, and we're really trying to get involved with the ward and build relationships. I think if this past week hadn't have been so awful, we would have never thought that we needed to do that, so I think the Lord really does cut you down for a reason! I'm so grateful for that!


Can't see the video? Click here.

~Sister Nielsen

Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things

Monday, September 28, 2015
This week has been a great week! The Lord truly gives us tender mercies in the midst of emotional trauma! Haha. My companion and I are working through the undue pressure I've been giving myself as a trainer. I'm grateful that the Lord gives us experiences that teach us. I loved what someone in our ward said about the Atonement yesterday. "I was tired of trying to carry it all, fix it all, and do it myself. That's when I let the Savior take over." I'm not a perfect trainer. I don't have all the answers. I'm not always the best example, but my Savior was. My Savior does, and my Savior is. I love that experiences like this are teaching me to rely on him. I think that's precisely why Heavenly Father made me a trainer when he did. He knew I would need to rely on him because I wouldn't know what else to do!

We are hunting, and digging, and scratching to find someone we can prepare for baptism! The Lord really wants me to be a finder, I suppose. We taught a former investigator named Nick this week. His wife died about a year and a half ago, and he is still really torn up about it. He talks about it like he's "merely the shell of a man— without a soul— and all you see is façade." My new companion did a wonderful job testifying of the reality of the Plan of Salvation our Heavenly Father has restored a full knowledge of, and together we bore testimony of his Heavenly Father's love and the power of his Savior's Atonement to heal all wounds. Unfortunately, Nick is pretty set that he will never be able to believe that again, without some physical proof the Savior's reality. As tangible as the Spirit we tried to bring might have been, Nick's heart is not quite prepared. Which is funny because I've been studying about Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon lately, and they saw SO many signs. They were constantly given evidence of the reality of our God, but their hearts were too hard, and it ultimately led to their own personal apostasy.

Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it. ... And now as I said concerning faith— faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. ... Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. (Alma 32:17-18, 21, 26-27)

It's through an exercise of faith that we gain a perfect knowledge! And I know this is truth. I have seen it. It makes me sad that Nick isn't ready for that, but with faith on my part, I know the Lord will prepare him.
We're also teaching a guy named Ed B. He is a hoot! The first time we met him, we talked for like an hour in front of his car about Jesus Christ, Christianity, and the Book of Mormon. We've been meeting with him about every week with our ward mission leader, and I am so grateful Brother Johnson comes to those lessons. It's a struggle to teach people who already have such a solid and firm belief in Jesus Christ, and Brother Johnson really is so much help in helping us simply answer some of those deeper doctrine questions that Ed has. We're here to teach doctrine simply, Ed! Come on! ;)

We've invited him to baptism a couple of times, but I think we'll just have to emphasize priesthood restored because he's still convinced his pastor had authority to baptize him (and it sometimes makes me wish that he did, you know?). I guess Heavenly Father is just going to need me to be super learned on all things Apostasy by the time I'm finished serving my mission because I just can't seem to get enough of it in my studies. I want to know why there was a need for a restoration of Christ's church, you know? Especially if all the people I'm teaching need to know why as well.

That's currently the only progressing investigator we have. Which seems to happen to me a lot. Actually, that happened with Gary, and he got baptized this weekend. So there's hope! :)

SPEAKING OF GARY... PICTURES!


L-R: Elders Williamson and Knutson, the missionaries who taught him after Sister T and me; Brother Gary M., Sister M., me, and my companion!

Oh, my word. Gary's story is so great. I just love Gary. The Lord seriously prepared Gary so much to be baptized. He started by reading this book about positive thinking, and then it ended up being a book mostly about Jesus Christ (hehe, got him). He had sort of a religious background growing up, but not much. We had met with our bishop, who invited us to go and visit Sister Miller, maybe even hopefully be able to catch Gary at home and invite him to take the lessons. From there, the Spirit took over. We introduced the message of the Restoration to him one day, and before we even knew what was happening, he accepted the invitation to take the lessons. Sister Miller was floored. She had been super active in the church for about five years, and recently went through the temple for herself. She couldn't believe that Gary had accepted our invitation and thanked us profusely.

From there, Gary insisted that he was simply nourishing his desire to learn about the Savior, rather than about the stories. With the help of the Spirit, we taught about the Savior, we showed him "Finding Faith in Christ," and were able to help him understand that this was about his commitment to Jesus Christ. Not about becoming Mormon, not about pleasing the missionaries, not about Sister Miller, but about him and his Savior. From there, he slowly accepted invitations to come on a church tour, then to come to church... and then I got transferred. One thing that always really impressed me about Gary was that he always read the Book of Mormon chapters we left with him. He even went out of town while we were teaching him, and he let us ask him questions and give assignments over text!

From teaching Gary and watching him be baptized (twice... ya gotta do it right, ya know?), I've learned a lot about how important, yet insignificant, our roles as missionaries are. We're simply there to push the process along. It really is all about the Lord. It's about how much he's prepared them. It's about how we bring the Spirit to let him testify of truth. It's about being worthy of that Spirit and direction so that we can help these people understand that THIS is where Heavenly Father wants them; THIS is the answer to all their prayers, all their concerns, all their questions. This truly is the way. The Lord will let you know when they're ready; you just have to have the faith necessary to get them there.

I love the Lord's timing. I'm grateful that he's in charge.

~Sister Nielsen

Rain in Walla Walla :)

Monday, September 21, 2015

Hello, all! Just wanted to send a quick update. Here's what I had to say to my mission president this week. I love, love, love being a missionary! Hope y'all are doing great!

Hi, President Ware!
It's amazing to see the way the Lord strengthens me as a trainer and helps me to be patient, loving, kind, and repentant. Especially the repentant part! I am definitely trying to be the best companion for her, and trying to be a great example. I hope that she will see me repent from my mistakes and do my best to move forward from them. You can't be perfect, but you can be perfectly trying! But even then, I'm not so good. But it's a process, and that is a blessing. I don't realize how well I'm doing until we get to companionship inventory and she tells me all these nice things about how I push her to do hard things and help her to want to work hard and be better. Do you ever wish you could go outside of yourself to see all the good that you really do? :) I think that's what companionship inventory is for.

It's been a good week! One cool thing that happened was on Tuesday. We were walking on our way to an appointment, and we were sharing the sidewalk with someone coming up to us. We got right in front of him and started to get to know him. Ed S. has studied religion most of his life, so he doesn't have much of an interest to "fit [himself] into one of those boxes." But we had a really great conversation about Christ! We asked if we could come over and teach him more, but he declined and told us we'd see him around. We found him again later that night! The Spirit prompted us to knock on a door as we were walking home, and there he was! It was so exciting! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation as we talked about the passing of his wife, and it really seemed to resonate with him. We called him this morning to confirm our return appointment with him, and maybe we shouldn't have because he cancelled. :/ But I always tell Sister Hamblin that I'd rather teach someone when the Lord has finished preparing them, rather than when they're not ready. The Lord provides a way!

Another person of interest this week is Ed B. We met him awhile ago, and have been meeting with him and our ward mission leader. We taught him about the Book of Mormon this week, and it was a really great lesson guided by the Spirit. I always love watching things make sense to people and seeing the Spirit work on them. Ed, or Brother B, as we've taken to calling him, isn't quite ready to commit to a baptismal date. But he is significantly more receptive to reading the Book of Mormon, and I think that's progress. :)

We're excited for the week ahead. I'm grateful that we have the opportunity to improve, grow, and move forward from our imperfections and mistakes. Life is a process, and it's made possible by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His hand is stretched out still! :)

~Sister Nielsen

Pictures!


My cute companion in the rain! :)


Somewhere over the rainbow, right?


Weekly planning with mi compañera :)


Havin' lunch with the 1st Ward sisters!


A cute pic of downtown Walla Walla


Mi compañera... made curry! :)


I guess we liked the rain.